Live Music Digest – w/c October 15th 2012
Welcome to our weekly digest of live music news and events in industry, academia and more.
Click to jump to:-
This week’s blog post
One from the archives
Live Music News
Live Music Features
Live Music Exchange Events
Other Live Music-related Events
This week’s blog post:
The UK live music industry conference – Live UK Summit 2012 – was held at the Radisson Blu Portman Square in London last week. Three representatives from Live Music Exchange – Adam Behr, Matt Brennan, and Emma Webster – attended the event. Here are their combined ‘Ten Things Learned from the Live UK Summit 2012’.
One from the archives:
One person spotted at the Live UK Summit was Will Page, ex-Chief Economist for PRS for Music, and now a senior economist at Spotify. Page was highly complementary of the following blog from the archives by Dave Laing on the value of the live music industries across the world, so we thought we’d flag it up here for your reading pleasure.
Live Music News:
Live UK Business Awards 2012 winners – Sheffield does particularly well with awards for both City Hall and The Leadmill.
Pussy Riot: One defendant freed: A Moscow court has freed one of the convicted women from the punk band Pussy Riot but upheld two-year jail terms for the other two. Yekaterina Samutsevich pledges to continue protests but has ‘mixed feelings’ on her release. Vladimir Putin says the Pussy Riot Three ‘got what they asked for’.
Glastonbury 2011 revenue up 5.2% year on year: Newly published accounts for Glastonbury Festival 2011 Limited show revenues of £32.2 million, increasing 36% from £23.6 million in 2008.
‘2012 Festival Sector Held Its Own’ Says WeGotTickets: Ticketing company WeGotTickets has distilled the figures of the over 700 festivals that it provides ticketing for to produce some surprising findings – despite a considerable number of cancellations and festivals taking a year off, the sector, from WeGotTickets’ perspective, held its own in 2012.
Atlantic warming might be to blame for washed out festivals although a switch back to dry, hot summers could happen within the next two to three years.
Following last week’s announcement about the Association of Independent Festivals of their anti-touring charter, comes the news that a ticket website fraudster has been jailed for 22 months, after pleading guilty to money laundering from an illegal ticketing business.
Artists slam Creative Scotland via an open letter to the Chairman. Signed by artists such as John Byrne, Alasdair Gray, James Kelman, AL Kennedy, Liz Lochhead and Ian Rankin, one hundred Scottish artists have accused Creative Scotland of ‘ill-conceived decision-making; unclear language, lack of empathy and regard for Scottish culture’. Creative Scotland has defended its management strategy, admitting that ‘in some cases our working methods are still developing’.
Government launches inquiry into support for creative industries: The Culture, Media and Sport Committee is inviting written submissions and requesting views on a number of issues focusing on the film, music, television, design and games sectors.
Research body Arts & Business urges the arts sector to seek out business ‘brains’: Arts organisations should start talking to the private sector ‘as the initial ideas are being formed’, rather than as a ‘funder of last resort’.
Ministers are devaluing arts, says Richard Eyre: Director Richard Eyre has questioned the appointment of Maria Miller as culture secretary, while criticising the government’s failure to recognise the value of the arts.
MP: Music industry needs closer ties with politicians: Mike Weatherley MP told the Live UK Summit today that the ‘renegade’ music industry must work harder to alert the government of the issues it faces and seek the support it needs.
Anschutz shares AEG information document, price tag could exceed $10 billion. Investors such as Guggenheim Partners have been flagged as possible buyers, and reports are that Larry Ellison, co-founder of IT giant Oracle and America’s third richest man, is also interested in buying AEG.
It has been confirmed that ex-Chief Economist for PRS for Music, Will Page, is to join Spotify in a senior economics role.
The Great Escape announces a new festival programmer while predecessor Haddad joins Festival Republic to work on Latitude. Meanwhile, Reading booker Pengelly departs Festival Republic after two decades.
Welsh National Opera welcomes £1.2m gift from one of America’s richest families, the Gettys.
Scottish opera musicians launch hire business: Musicians from the Orchestra of Scottish Opera have formed a co-operative to market themselves as a commercial operation.
New chief executive for ROH production centre: Andrea Stark has been appointed chief executive of the charity that manages the Royal Opera House’s set and scenery production site.
Unions demand official crackdown on showbiz low pay: The government is under increased pressure to clamp down on unpaid work in the entertainment industry, after research revealed that a third of new entrants to the sector have worked for free on ten or more jobs.
Blur reveal Europe festival dates after having previously hinted their recent Hyde Park gig would be their last.
Rolling Stones 50th anniversary shows booked according to Keith Richards. But he’s not allowed to talk about it.
Undertones musical set for Derry City of Culture year
Echo Arena Liverpool launches new intimate event space called The Auditorium, which is designed for smaller capacity events.
Battersea Arts Centre has been awarded £2.5m for heritage work to help restore the outside of its building and create an archive of its history.
Proud2 licence suspension ended: The club venue under the O2 Dome had its licence temporarily suspended by council officials after an incident in September when two men were stabbed and a bouncer was hit with a bucket.
Drug and gun find on rapper’s bus although Nelly claims ‘he had no idea there were drugs and a gun on my tourbus’.
And finally, the NME publishes photos of 40 strangest rock star rider requests, including Axl Rose’s square melon and Marilyn Manson’s gummi bears.
And following Justin Bieber’s sudden illness last week, Lady Gaga also vomits on stage.
Revenge is a dish best served cold as a fan sells his Radiohead tickets online to spite his cheating ex-girlfri
Live Music Features:
Maria Miller: the arts need to get better at asking, not just receiving: Conservative culture secretary Maria Miller, speaking for the first time on the arts, says that philanthropy is ‘the right way to go’ – economic crisis or no economic crisis.
Crowd Patronage: Can A 400 Year Old Model Save The Music Industry?
Become a Festival Shareholder…The Future? Tribe Festivals Ltd, the rights holders of the hugely popular Wychwood Festival and joint owners of the Cheltenham Comedy Festival, have launched an innovative new model that invites fans and supporters of the Wychwood Festival the opportunity to become shareholders in the annual family weekender.
One Man’s War (radio): This is the story of classical music life in London during the Second World War, which instead of stopping altogether once war was declared in 1939, actually flourished as the bombs fell.
Tom Service on fantasy orchestras: Why has nobody invented the classical-music equivalent of fantasy football? Cherry-picking from the world’s greatest musicians could result in an all-conquering super-orchestra.
How we made: Ivan Fischer and Tom Randle on ENO’s The Magic Flute
Is student life becoming more sexist? Freshers’ week has just been upon us – and more and more club nights were promoted with themes of misogyny.
Arts & Humanities Research Council launches a Survey of Cultural Organisations: The AHRC has commissioned the first ever large-scale survey of the UK’s cultural organisations including museums, galleries, permanent exhibitions, theatres, music venues, and heritage sites – among others.
Live Music Exchange Events:
Live Music Exchange, Cardiff
Saturday 10th November 2012
ATRiuM, University of Glamorgan, Cardiff
A conference with a difference, the Live Music Exchange gathers together leading academics with people working directly (and indirectly) with live music, to exchange ideas about how to encourage and assist a vibrant and sustainable live music ecology.
Panels on: Live music policy, skills & training and more, plus round-table discussions.
Keynote Speaker: Professor George McKay (Professor of Cultural Studies, University of Salford and AHRC Leadership Fellow, Connected Communities Programme)
Panellists include: Fiona Stewart (Green Man Festival), Simon Dancey (British Council), Huw Williams (founder Welsh Music Foundations), Arts Council Wales, John Rostron (SWN Festival), and many more.
See here for the latest programme.
Please get in touch with contact@livemusicexchange.org for further details.
Other Live Music-related Events:
Why 1973? Towards an Understanding of the ‘Legendary’ Status of the Glasgow Apollo (1973-85). 16th October, 5.00 – 7.00pm, UWS Space, CCA Glasgow.
MU events at the SWN festival: Thursday 18th and Friday 19th October 2012 at St David’s Hall, Cardiff.
National Rural Touring Forum AGM and members meeting: Thursday 25th October, The Public in West Bromwich.
Generator’s Music Futures Conference: Live Theatre, Broad Chair, Newcastle, Thursday 22nd November, 10am – 6pm. Includes Jeannette Lee & Tony Wadsworth In Conversation.
The Association of Festival Organisers Conference 2012 is to be held between Friday 16 November to Sunday 18 November 2012 in Eastwood, Nottingham.
Royal Musical Association Research Students’ Conference: Call for papers and works. 3 to 5 January 2013, University of Southampton.
Rhythm Changes Jazz Research Seminar will be held on 8 February, 4-6pm at the University of Salford.
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